STARKVILLE — Devon Bell had a couple of big-time scholarship offers.
He was offered a scholarship by Auburn during his senior year at Warren Central high school in 2011 and was offered one by Ohio State a month before signing day. He already had an offer from Mississippi State. Even though he drew some interest from some national powers, he had already made up his mind. While attending the 2010 MSU and Auburn game at Davis Wade Stadium, his decision became crystal clear.
“The cowbells starting going off and I just got chills,” Bell said. “I just fell in love with the place. After that, I knew that this was the place I wanted to be at.”
He found his way to Starkville in the summer of 2012 and has loved every minute of it. But it comes to an end. The senior kicker will be with the No. 23 Bulldogs (8-3, 4-3) as they play host to in-state rival No. 19 Ole Miss (8-3, 5-2) 6:15 p.m. (ESPN2) Saturday night in the annual Egg Bowl. It will be his final game at Davis Wade Stadium as MSU will honor 15 seniors in a pregame ceremony.
Many seniors have been emotional this week when talking about their time at MSU and this being their last home game. Emotions will be running high Saturday as well.
Bell said walking into Davis Wade Stadium for the final time will be bittersweet.
“I’m going to miss this place,” Bell said. “I’m going to miss everything about it — the team, the coaches, the fan base, and playing in that stadium. It’s the most unbelievable thing I’ve ever done. I’m just grateful I’ve had the opportunity to play here.”
Bell began his career by kicking field goals, extra points, and being used on kickoffs. He was 14 of 21 for field goals during his freshman season, but struggled as a sophomore making just 6 of 14 kicks. He was taken off field goal duty as a junior and was primarily used on punts and kickoffs.
But Logan Cooke has been primarily used on punts this season leaving Bell on kickoffs. Even with all the ups and downs of his career and the transitions he has had to endure, the one thing he will remember is the way he handled adversity.
“It’s made me into a better person and a stronger person mentally,” Bell said. “I feel like I can face any task that’s thrown at me now. In my opinion, I’ve dealt with the hardest things that a football player can deal with.”
Bell has accounted for 67 kickoffs for 4,150 yards this season. He is averaging 61.9 yards per kick and has totaled 27 touchbacks.
Coming into this season, Bell was battling with Westin Graves for the field goal job, but Graves won in the end. Bell has attempted one field goal, but missed the 52-yard kick that would have given the Bulldogs the win over LSU.
Bell decided to be selfless this season and was ready to accept whatever job was given to him.
“My mindset this year was just to be that guy that coach (Dan) Mullen wanted me to be,” Bell said. “Whether it was kickoffs, punts, field goal, or all three, I was just wanted to go out in my senior year with a really good season. I feel like I’ve had a pretty decent season this year.”
Bell will be used on kickoffs against Ole Miss and he hopes he gets to kick it off a lot of times as the Bulldogs score a lot of touchdowns.
Being a Mississippi kid, this game means more to him than any other. He said Vicksburg is basically split when it comes to cheering for MSU and Ole Miss. He said half his family is Ole Miss fans and the other half are MSU fans.
Bell said his grandfather, Roland, grew up an Ole Miss fan and even graduated from the university in Oxford.
“It’s a difficult thing for him to do, but he’s cheering for me,” Bell said. “I’m just hoping we can have the result that we want.”
All of the seniors want to bring the Egg Bowl back to Starkville after the Rebels captured it last season with a 31-17 victory in Oxford. Bell and the seniors are 1-2 against the Rebels and they would like to even that mark up before leaving.
“I think it’s really the most important thing of the year,” Bell said. “It’s bragging rights for a whole calendar year. I know we’re all going to be giving it our all to get the result that we want.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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